


The Ol' Switchero

by RiceNoodlesAndCrime



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Like, Misunderstandings, Other, Past manipulation, This is about their characters in the SMP and does not reflect the real people, Trauma, cursing, dreamswap AU, homeless dream pog, into the dreamverse, manhunt!dream, of cursing, past trauma, spoilers for the smp, this was supposed to be a oneshot, tw caps, tw cursing, which is different from SMP!dream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28604964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiceNoodlesAndCrime/pseuds/RiceNoodlesAndCrime
Summary: Dreamswap AU where the dream from manhunt swaps places with the one from the SMP and runs into tommyinnit after he ran away from exile with SMP dreamCredit to @kitsoot for the AU link to their blog in the fic
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 604





	1. Same Mask Different Person

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before the second festival stream :(

[Credit for dreamswap AU goes to @Kitsoot on tumblr](https://kitsoot.tumblr.com/post/637641559924473856/concept-manhunt-dream-swaps-places-with-smp-dream)

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“Motherfucker!” 

Tommy winced as he pinched at his finger, prying out a pesky splinter, leaving his axe down by the tree he had been in the process of chopping down. 

His breath puffed out, fogging his vision for a second before it was swept away into the icy cold wind of the arctic. Techno’s house stood amongst the blank white plains, a small beacon of hospitality in the unforgiving landscape. 

The fucking bastard! Sending him out into the unforgiving cold (with adequate clothing for said cold and rations in case he got hungry). Making Tommy do all his dirty work for him, chopping down trees (He had a netherite axe, generously crafted and gifted to him by Techno, easily cutting through the wood like butter). Left to fend for himself against mobs (Techno had made him a brand new netherite set and enchanted helmet as armor. As well as a brand-new shiny sword and shield) and whatever happens upon him in the dark forest (it was day time). 

He finally plucked it out of his hand, wiping off a pinprick of blood and sighing. His hand reached out behind him, fingers reaching for the axe handle... 

Tommy’s hands closed on nothing. 

He twirled around, stalking once.... then twice around the half-toppled tree. 

His axe was gone- 

Not gone. Stolen. Had to be stolen axes don’t just grow legs and run off. 

Someone was in the woods with him. 

Frantically, he looked around, reaching for his backpack and shield he’d left on a stump nearby while keeping his eyes between the trees. 

Again, he found nothing. He turned around, just to be sure. His pack was gone, the snow already beginning to blanket the stump it had been placed on. 

It was fine. _It was fine._ He ate a golden apple nervously, sword already at ready in front of him. 

_It was fine. Everything was fine. It wasn’t like he had run away from a dangerous powerful person very recently. Who was still looking for_ _him._ _And highly suspected he was staying at Techno’s house. This is fine. Everything's great._

A snapping sound. Probably a twig, Or some brambles. Could’ve been anything. A sheep. Techno coming to check on him. Some zombie that was hiding from the burning light underneath the shade of pine needles. 

“HEEYYYYY!” Tommy screamed, banging his sword against his plate viciously, the clanging noise reverberating through the entire forest. He grinned. 

“HEYYY! I’M NOT SCARED OF YOU! WHOEVER YOU ARE!” he yelled with way more confidence than he had. “YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF ME! I-I'll FUCK YOUR SHIT UP!” 

A movement, lightning-quick from behind him. The only reason he could block it was because of his recent bouts training with Techno (a semi-successful attempt to get rid of the paranoia plaguing Tommy ever since he'd escaped) 

“AHA! FACE ME, COWARD-” his words died on his lips when he turned around. 

Tommy’s vision tunneled on the white mask, it’s eerily cheerful smile ever-present. The green hoodie burning his eyes. 

_No_ _no_ _no_ _no_ _please-_

“Dream...”

His voice trembled. Pathetic. Weak.

Dream said nothing as Tommy cowered back, sword barely managing to stay in his shaking hands as he struggled to keep his breaths. He held his axe at his side as he sized up Tommy, menacingly towering above him in... 

...In iron armor. 

Iron. 

Somewhere, through the icy panic quickly traveling up his limbs, Tommy realized something was off. He struggled, blinking a few times to clear the darkness edging on his vision and taking in Dream’s appearance. 

A sharp crack ran diagonally across the cheerful mask, just barely not reaching the end and shattering the entire thing in half. The smiling face was now stained with dirt and soft reds and browns that could be blood. The neon green sweater was likewise stained and torn in places. Armor-wise, he was in iron instead of his usual netherite, and it looked more cracked than Tommy’s had been in exile. Bandages and patched up wounds could be seen under the ripped cloth. 

In his one hand was Tommy’s shield, and the other his netherite axe. The only unruined things in Dream’s entire outfit. 

And he hadn’t said or done anything yet. 

“I... I um....” 

He stood, watching as Dream backed away and let him. 

Dream... never did that. 

Tommy had spent weeks with only Dream as his company. Dream never sagged like he was sagging before him here, like he was running on only adrenaline and a dogged determination to survive. Never backed away from Tommy, cautiously cowering behind a shield instead of standing tall, and _was that Tommy’s pack slung over his shoulder?_

_“_ H-hey!” Tommy called out against his better judgment. Dream froze. “That’s my- it-it's my pack. Give it!” 

Tommy blinked and Dream was gone, hightailing it into the forest. 

A sudden hot fury flew over Tommy, making the blood rush through his veins. This bastard. The person who’d manipulated and _watched_ him for weeks. Blowing up his stuff, telling lies, abandoning him on that cold lonely island. His brain felt fuzzy at the thought. 

Tommy decided he didn’t care that he was acting strangely, he was going to give Dream a piece of his mind. 

The ender pearl flew true, purples particles clouding his vision as he chased a green speck from his vantage on the treetops. His breaths came out in heavy puffs. Dream practically flew across the ground below him, a blur of green that Tommy kept losing track of. 

“GET BACK HERE, BITCH!” Tommy laughed, high-pitched and nervous, but it still felt like a victory. The rush of adrenaline and chasing after someone who had wronged him, who he’d feared for so long. It was exhilarating. 

(It wasn’t enough to distract him from the wrongness of the situation. The wounds and shoddy armor covering Dream head to toe) 

(It reminded him too much of himself, shivering as he walked through the snow, running from the ominous tower that touched the clouds. Hiding under Techno’s house, cold but exhilarated, barely daring to believe he was free of that decrypted little island) 

Finally, he leapt down from the branches, screeching as he tackled Dream into the snow. Dream struggled in Tommy’s grasp, weaseling out, but it didn’t matter. He had nowhere to run, the thick tree line's previous shelter now a cruel cage. 

“Yeah! YEEEAH WHOSE THE BIG MAN NOW?! HUH?!!” Tommy said triumphantly. 

Nothing. Not a single jeer back. 

Dream just... stood there. Silent. 

He was shaking, Tommy realized. Tommy’s axe wobbled in his grip as he prepared to fight, to defend himself. From _Tommy_ . _He was afraid of Tommy-_

“What the fuck.” he said under his breath. Then, a bit louder: “Wh-what? You don’t have anything to-to even say? Huh? Nothing? After all-all your _lies_ and _manipulation_. Nothing?” 

The ever-smiling mask stared blankly back at him. 

“Also, why are you in literally the worst armor I've ever seen?” Tommy continued, thinking aloud, “Like, really, I know Techno jokes about you being homeless but you seriously look like you’re homeless right now.” 

Dream shifted on his feet, glancing behind and around him, trying and failing to find an exit. And then back to Tommy. 

“Whose Techno?” 

Dream’s voice was thin and hoarse, and it made Tommy do a double-take. 

“Okay... wh-what is-” he considered the beat up, bruised (unfamiliar) figure before him, and sheathed his sword. Dream’s shoulders dropped from where they were hovering around his ears. “Look, man. A-are you like, fucking with me? Like... You know Techno! You saw him, like, yesterday!” 

“I... Haven’t heard of him,” Dream said slowly, carefully. “Sorry.” he tacked on. 

Dream never apologized to him. Never took blame upon himself when he could dump it onto Tommy. 

Tommy’s brows furrowed, “Do you – like – do you know who _I_ am?” 

“Well, no.” Tommy would have guessed he was frowning under his mask (he'd had to get really good at reading people’s moods. Knowing when to avoid Dream helped at times during exile.) “So many people I don’t know keep asking me that question,” 

“YEAH, BECAUSE EVERYONE ON THE SERVER KNOWS YOU!” Dream looked akin to a deer caught in headlights, and Tommy decided to lower his voice. “Look, do-do you... Do you not know... Did you like forget like-like Ranboo does sometimes or like... What do you remember?” 

“I-I um...” he looked up at the sky, “I was running from...” He glanced at Tommy, “I was running from some people who... they didn’t like me. And I found-” 

He cut off suddenly, struggling to fit the words together. “It was... Like a ruined portal. But already lit. Bu-but it was still... Broken and everything. And they were almost on top of me so I just...jumped in and hoped for the best.” 

He curled into himself, an action that looked so foreign on someone who was supposedly so powerful. “An-and I woke up here! In this – whole different world! And nothing makes _sense_ here. And all the people that were hunting me – they keep acting like they’re my friends. And people keep... asking me things and none of them make any sense it-it doesn’t make any sense and I don’t...” 

The sentences dissolved into a mumble that was carried away by the wind. 

Tommy... 

Didn’t know what to say. 

He didn’t know what to do. There. In the arctic forest (Dream was obviously not dressed for the arctic weather). Confronted by this skittish, new Dream. Confused. Scared. Running from everyone. Stealing basic supplies (when had Dream last eaten? Tommy had tackled Dream with ease and he was just getting his strength back.). Apparently hunted down for who knows how long. 

But maybe someone else would know what to do. 

Tommy grabbed Dream’s wrist, pulling him along towards where Tommy knew Techno’s house was waiting. 

“What-where-” 

“Come on, homeless man, we’re getting you somewhere safe.” 


	2. Local British Kid Bullies Terrorist Into Adopting Traumatized Man More At Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off:  
> Hello, fellow insomniacs :)
> 
> Second: THIS BLEW UP SO MUCH  
> OH MY GOSH  
> THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS THEY MAKE MY DAY
> 
> anyway  
> Here is the last chapter ;)

“TECHNOOOOO!”

The pig hybrid let go of the axe he had been enchanting, ears swiveling back against his head as he sighed at the horrible high-pitched noise of Tommy’s screeches this  _ fucking kid why had he allied with the most annoying person on the server please Dream just take him back- _

“BIG T WE HAVE A VISITOR!”

“Yeah, yeah, give me a second.”

Descending the ladder rungs, he turned to the door-

An ungodly noise came out of Techno’s mouth.

Tommy stood in the doorway, grinning like an idiot.

Behind him was Dream, standing just on the doorstep. His wrist was held tight in Tommy’s hand. The whole scene felt strangely like a cat showing off the dead bird it had found to its cringing owner.

Except the bird was not a dead bird, but a murderous, manipulative, bastard bird that was filled with evil and hatred.

“So, I know what you’re thinking, Techno!” Tommy, placated, acting as if the most powerful person on the fucking server wasn't just hovering behind him, ominously peeking out from his crude faux-smile mask. “And yes, this does look bad! But – BUT! I swear there’s a good explanation.”

Technoblade pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh (one of many since Tommy had moved in) of long anguish and suffering.

“Tommy,”

“Yes, Technoblade?”

“Tommy.”

“Yeah?” he smirked.

“Could we talk for a second, Tommy? In private,”

“Yes, Yep yeah, of  _ course _ , Big T, of  _ course. _ ”

He ushered Tommy to the side, huddling in the corner a few feet away from Dream, looking over his shoulder every few seconds in case Dream tried something. He didn’t, just stood awkwardly in the doorway, holding onto the wrist Tommy had been holding just a second ago.

(he almost looked like he was cowering in fear(?))

(But Dream would never do that...)

The voices chittered anxiously away, flooding his thoughts with-

** Dream? Dream! Oh no. LMAO TOMMY WHY lmao TOMMY PROTECT TOMMY PROTECTION SQUAD TOMMY E Blood for the blood god. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! E well shit. Tommy NO Not dream? Fake Dream? Don’t let him get Tommy- **

Tommy’s voice interrupted the internal crowd. “So, look. You’re not gonna _believe_ this, but-”

“Tommy.” Techno said.

“...Yes?”

“Do you remember, Tommy? Do you remember what we were trying to do? Or rather, trying  _ not _ to do?”

“Uh...” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck, nervously glancing away from Techno’s eyes. “Well, we’re trying to get my disc back, right?”

“Yes, that is one of our goals.”

“And... Minor terrorism!” he exclaimed with unearned confidence, like he was trying to ace a test he hadn’t studied for.

“Yes, that too. But  specifically, to do with you and Dream?”

“Uh ..... ”

Techno’s voice finally shifted from monotone to something more convicted. “It was to not get  _ caught,  _ Tommy. Th-the invisibility potions? The  _ hiding, _ Tommy?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“The goal was to not let Dream know you lived here, Tommy!”

“If you’d just let me finish-”

“Tommy, Dream is right outside my house, Tommy!” he let out a laugh, “How am I supposed to protect you if he literally knows you’re staying with me!?”

“LOOK, TECHNO!” Tommy shouted, “JUST LET ME EXPLAIN!”

“WHAT EXPLANATION COULD YOU HAVE THAT MAKES THIS BETTER-” Techno paused, “...Is he trying to run away...?”

“Oh no-” Tommy sprinted towards the empty doorway, shivering in the sudden cold breeze. “Not again!”

Techno pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders, hefting up a shiny new axe, the enchantments gleaming in the evening light. “He’s been running away from you? Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?”

“That’s what I've been trying to explain!” Tommy ran out into the snow, the mobs just barely held back as the last slivers of sunlight faded. “DREAM!! DREAM ITS FINE COME BACK HERE! HE’S NOT GONNA HURT YOU!”

“COME BACK DREAM I NEED CLOUT” Techno bellowed.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

“Look, we need to find him before it gets too late. He’s literally in the worst iron armor I’ve ever seen! The mobs could get him easily. And a  _ hoodie _ ! He doesn’t even have a jacket-” Techno tilted his head in confusion as Tommy fussed and worried aloud over someone who he’d been terrified of just yesterday. “I don’t really know how fast hypothermia works, but I don’t think he should be out in the snow this long, right? In just a hoodie? And his jeans had, like, those aesthetic rips in them. That can’t be insulating-”

“Tommy...” Techno said carefully, stopping his worried pacing with a claw gently placed on his  shoulder .

(Techno had found him. Under his house. Malnourished. Weak. His hands shaking for days after running away. His fear staying longer. He’d watched Tommy stutter over Dream’s name, as if saying it out loud would break the fragile safety. He’d heard mutters in the night from nightmares drenched in memories.)

“Look, I don’t-…. I may not know the extent of like, what happened to you in exile. But I don’t think Dream – as strange as he’s acting right now – ...I don’t think he was your friend. And you don’t have to... Sympathize just because he's in a bad spot.” The emotion in the words was awkward to navigate, but Techno thought he did okay, because Tommy’s hand came to rest on Techno’s clawed one.

He looked to the ground, smiling bitterly. “I know. I.... I’ve realized that, Techno.” Tommy looked up again, determinedly. “But this is different, Techno.”

“How so?”

Techno passed Tommy a lantern, his own grasped tightly in his claws as he shut the door close behind them. The forest loomed, footsteps leading into the pine tree’s shade.

“Lemme explain as we go...”

~

Dream crouched on a tree, shivering hands coming up to clutch the branch above him and raining a dust of snowflakes on his hair and shoulders. He guessed it was a good thing he was shivering, no matter how hard it made it to balance on his vantage point. It meant hypothermia hadn’t completely set in yet.

He thought back to the small hut belonging to " Technoblade ”, rubbing his wrist where Tommy had grabbed him. The increasing volume in their voices signaling him to make his escape.

He shouldn’t have let his guard down. Shouldn’t have allowed this loud, naïve child to pull him into such obvious danger. The portal and sudden world change had dazed him, running from all these people (too many people) yelling out at him with familiarity he had not earned.

Dream shifted positions and sat down against the trunk, eating some beef he’d snuck from Techno’s chest while they were arguing. The warmth and promise of safety had been nice. Too nice. A beautiful illusion.

_ He had to keep running he had to stay running he could not settle down he could not hide just fight and flight he had to run- _

Dream stopped eating as he realized something.

Was that... technically not true anymore?

He gulped, watching the mobs who had caught onto his scent circle below, struggling to find him. Dream pulled his knees closer to his chest, resting his chin on them.

He was in an entirely new world. A world that was not filled with people trying to kill him. Sure, his alter ego of this dimension had obviously stirred up some trouble, but a few explanations could easily clear that up.

The idea made him giddy. It felt surreal, an idea conjured up in his fantasies as he settled into uneasy rest in somewhere  supposedly safe. He had a clean slate. No enemies. No warrant on his head. Nothing.

…He might even dare to say he was safe.

Safe. It seemed a foreign word. He wasn’t safe. Never safe. His name and that word were oil and water. They shouldn’t be in the same sentence.

(Tommy had promised him safety...)

Dream was interrupted from his train of thought by voices. He laid down on his belly, evening out his breaths as he strained his ears.

“So, this is an entirely different person?” A gruff voice. It belonged to Techno. Dream saw him walking underneath the pine tree, holding a lantern aloft, fog expelling out his snout in great puffs.

“Yep! Same looks, way less of an asshole.” Tommy proudly announced. “He can stay at your house, right?”

A zombie groans somewhere nearby and Techno swings his axe. It cleaves straight through a zombie abdomen like its fucking butter, the innards spilling messily, and Dream winces as Techno doesn’t even bother to walk around it. He looks down at the steak clutched in his shaking hands, and hopes he didn’t steal too much. Techno didn’t seem like someone he’d  wanna get on the bad side of.

“There’s already, like, four people living in my house, Tommy.” Techno said, “You and  Ghostbur need to move into the shack you guys were making.”

“Oh, come on! Just for one night? I promise, I’ll work on the house  _ tomorrow.  _ Just let him stay one night? _ ” _

Techno pondered it, “Hmm.... It would give me  _ many  _ views,”

“Views?”

“Nothing.” Techno waved him off “You’re too young to understand, kid.”

Tommy stamped his foot in the snowdrifts, and struggled to get it out again. “I AM AN  _ ADULT _ -”

Techno shrugged “Sure you are.” he shone his lantern into the darkness, “Now where is this New Dream? We’ve been looking for a while now...”

“I’m here.”

Dream slid down the tree, ignoring the shake in his entire body that wasn’t from the cold. The wrongness in revealing his location.

He was so tired of running.

(The idea of safety sparked a delirium in his brain, a wildfire of an idea catching onto his entire mind quickly. Hunger and cold impaired his decision making, making the warmth of the hut just that much more enticing)

Tommy’s eyes lit up, “NEW DREAM!”

He hoped. But he also feared.

_ This is a mistake this is a trap this is a trap don’t trust them what have I done what have I done please- _

“Come on, we’re freezing our asses out here!” Tommy reached for him-

Dream flinched away from the outstretched palm, rational thoughts fleeing. In their place came an avalanche of:

_ A punch an attack an attack fight! Flee! Please stop a grab please don’t hurt me don’t touch me this was a trap please run away run away FIGHT THEM. _

He heard voices and commotion. The crunch of snow under boots. But he couldn’t see beyond the thoughts running through his head-

_Run_ _run_ _run_ _run_ _fight flight which one decide choose now you_ _have to_ _choose now please_ _please_ _no_

“-Dream!”

The world spun, small snowflakes dancing in front of his eyes as the adrenaline came and went, like a crashing wave drawing back in again. The axe and shield were secure in his hands, drawn in front of him by muscle memory and instinct well-worn into the fabric of his being.

The hand had retreated, both palms held up and open in a sign of supplication. Tommy peaked over the shield at Dream, frowning down at him.

_ Shit. _

Techno waved and smiled awkwardly in what was probably supposed to a reassuring grin, but mostly exposed his very shark tusks and canines for Dream to see. 

“Uh... We’re not  gonna hurt you.” The pig hybrid hastily hid his enchanted netherite axe behind his back, still covered in gore and dark stains. “Promise.”

“Mm...” Dreams head felt floaty as he lowered his weapons. He hadn’t eaten since leaping into the portal, and the steak hadn’t filled him up nearly enough. Tommy had taken back his pack on the way to Techno’s, so he even if he ran, he wouldn’t have any supplies for the cold of the arctic night. Survival didn’t seem likely on his own. At least he wasn’t shivering anymore. Or was that a bad thing? (he couldn’t remember right now...)

“Hey... hey.” Techno snapped his fingers in front of Dream’s face, catching his attention somewhat. “Jeez. We should get you inside...” Techno paused in the middle of his sentence, turning to Tommy. “It feels weird to keep calling him Dream when we already have someone named Dream here.”

Tommy grinned. “Let’s call you  Maerd ! It’s Dream backwards, and it sounds like nerd! And you’re a nerd!”

Dream (Maerd?) tilted their head, frowning under the mask. “How about we don’t do that?”

“Alright, fine!” he stuck out his tongue, “What do you suggest we call you then?”

The wind howled, brushing the hair from Dream’s face as he thought.

“Maybe.... uh.... Dre...” Dream said, “Yeah. Dre.”

(A new identity. A fresh slate. A new name. A second chance.)

(safety)

“Are you guys done?” Techno huffed, “My hooves are getting cold.”

“Okay  _ old man  _ we’ll get you out of the snow I know it makes your bones go all  shaky .”

“Remind me why I allied with you?”

Dre(am) huffed out a wheezy breath. A half-way sound of laughter. It surprised him (he hadn’t laughed in a while).

And as he followed this annoying loud kid out of the forest, who was verbally bullying the most intimidating man he’d ever met. As he watched the glowing warmth of the house on the horizon appear in the distance. As he felt a heavy weight suddenly drop upon his back, soft and red with a fluffy white collar, accompanied by a gruff excuse of not wanting Dre to get hypothermia.

Pulling the cloak snugly around his shoulders, Dre entertained the idea that things might work out in this new world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I borrowed the idea of renaming Manhunt!Dream as “Dre” from Technopog (go check them out :D)

**Author's Note:**

> Now finished story


End file.
